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Toranfield House to host international behavioural healthcare conference

The topics covered at the conference will be diverse — everything from neuroscience and its role in recovery, to sex and love, online and gaming addiction, successful intervention and co-dependence will feature

A host of renowned speakers will present at Ireland’s inaugural international conference on behavioural health, on topics ranging from neuroscience to sexual addiction.

Toranfield House, the behavioural health and addiction centre based in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, announced this week that it is to host Ireland’s first ever international conference on behavioural health (including addiction). The conference is set to run from Thursday 10 to Saturday 12 November this year at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Powerscourt, in conjunction with Southworth & Associates and Castle Craig Hospital, Scotland.

The conference has been designed to introduce both new concepts and the latest thinking around addiction, recovery and mental health to the medical fraternity, as well as members of the Irish public who have a specific interest in mental health issues and addiction. The conference will feature world-leading international and local speakers, who will present and discuss the latest neurological developments and effective treatments for the various aspects of addiction and recovery.

There will be 25 speakers presenting during the three days, covering the latest evidence-based research and thinking across a myriad of topics, such as:

How Neuroscience Helps Us Understand Addiction Recovery;

Addiction in Practice: Doctors’ Primary Role;

Understanding Psychological Trauma and the Brain;

Dual Diagnosis: The New Frontier;

Addiction in the Family: Are We Ready for a Paradigm Shift?;

Co-dependency and Successful Intervention;

Sexual Addiction and Domestic Violence;

Internet and Gambling Addiction;

Alcohol and Suicide;

Drug and Alcohol Interventions within the GAA.

The conference will open with a guest speaker — Alastair Campbell — the writer, communicator and strategist, who is best known for his role as Tony Blair’s spokesman and director of communications and strategy. Alastair will be talking about his mental health experience, arising from his own breakdown in 1986, which was the subject of an award-winning documentary on BBC2, ‘Cracking Up’.

Since then, Alastair has worked hard to help break down the taboo still surrounding mental health. He has written books on the topic and, two years ago, he received the Mind Champion of the Year Award in the UK, in recognition of his work. Alastair is an accomplished, interesting and disarmingly honest speaker and one not to be missed.

The topics covered at the conference will be diverse — everything from neuroscience and its role in recovery, to sex and love, online and gaming addiction, successful intervention and co-dependence will feature. Prof Carlton K Erickson, a research scientist who is a distinguished Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Texas, will speak about neuroscience and its role in addiction and recovery, while Dr Shelley Uram, a triple board-certified psychiatrist, will speak about co-dependency.

Substance abuse
Dr John Southworth, who has worked in the field of substance abuse and mental health for more than 40 years, will be talking about the critical role of successful intervention in the recovery process while Dr Susan Campling, Director of the Pine Grove Gentle Path Programme in Mississippi, will talk about the reality of trauma, domestic violence and sex addiction on the back of some high-profile cases around sex addiction — raising the public consciousness of this heretofore unspoken-about area of addiction.

The conference is aimed at delegates from all disciplines across the healthcare spectrum such as psychiatrists, psychologists, GPs, counsellors and healthcare professionals, as well as members of the public, people who are interested in mental health generally and addiction specifically, and those interested in how to achieve real and sustained recovery.

Toranfield will provide certificates of attendance and CME/CPD points at the conference and will notify delegates of the number of points for which they will qualify in the coming weeks.

Early-bird offer
The conference costs €300 for the three days, including all speakers and workshops, access to all seminars, and lunch and coffee breaks for the three days at the Ritz Carlton, Powerscourt. However, if delegates book before 15 September, they can get a €50 reduction in that fee, paying €250 for the three days. Places are limited and Toranfield is expecting a full capacity attendance, so early booking is advised.

The conference programme will be finalised in the next couple of weeks, but it will run from 9am on Thursday 10 to 5.30pm on Saturday 12 November, including the lectures, seminars and a relaxed dinner at the Ritz Carlton Powerscourt on the Thursday night.

For those coming from around the country or abroad, the Ritz Carlton is offering a special delegate rate of €180 per night, per room, and Toranfield House has also arranged a special deal with Bewleys Hotel in Leopardstown, starting at €59 per room per night.

To register as a delegate is easy: you can do it by phone, by email or register on the conference website. Call 00 353 1 2762300, email Jackie.l@toranfieldhouse.com or log onto www.toranfieldhouse.com.